Busy Christmas period for local SVP
The president of Saint Vincent de Paul's visitation conference for Offaly has reported that people are seeking help to pay for fuel, electricity and food this Christmas.
“Our phone is busy. There's a lot of difficulty out there. I don't even like to think where we'd be right now without the household package (announced in the budget),” John Devery explained.
Mr Devery cited rising costs of essential items such as briquettes which have risen from €6 to €8 in the past year as one of the difficulties for people in the current climate.
He added that SVP is busy and that they will be getting calls right up to Christmas.
“The Household Benefit Package has had a big effect on the people coming to us. We're waiting to see what will happen with these allowances. A lot of people got the fuel allowance as well as the electricity."
Mr Devery also said that people are currently looking for vouchers to help with their grocery shopping.
Ken Smollen, the founder of the Ken Smollen Food Appeal, recently revealed that the charity is delivering food parcels to over 1,200 households across the Midlands each month.
“Things are getting a lot worse. I know a lot of people were already rationing food (before the rise in the cost of living) and they were used to doing it. Things have gone so bad now with mortgage interest rate increases and rents going up, as well as other cost of living increases, that more people than ever are looking for help at this stage. I have well over 1,200 families now and that is just increasing every day.”
He said that every day the message box in his phone is filled with new requests for help from families in Westmeath and neighbouring counties who have “reached their limits”.
SVP's Annual Appeal for the local region was launched on November 26 in Birr. The annual appeal supports families to pay for basics such as food and fuel.
Launching this year’s SVP Annual Appeal SVP National President, Rose McGowan, said that despite the additional cost-of-living support payments made by the Government, there are many people who are struggling to meet basic family expenses.
“The cost of living measures such as the one-off Fuel Allowance, double social welfare, child benefit and state pension payments will help low-income households during what will be a very difficult winter, but these measures are only temporary. We are very worried that many of these families will continue to struggle into next year.
“In the coming months, the cost of living crisis will hit different households in different ways, particularly with the rising costs of food, energy and housing. Add in Christmas costs, and you can see how difficult life will be for those on fixed incomes.”
You can donate to the appeal in your local area by phoning 0818 176 176.